Newly diagnosed kitty Honey

Hi guys
Thanks for encouraging me to join. My Cat is currently in the vets for over 24hrs for BG curve so worried about her. She was diagnosed this morning her BG was 40. I rang vet at 5pm this evening and he said she is responding to the insulin, not sure which one it is yet, but not as quickly as he would like so she has to stay in most of tomorrow too. Balled my eyes out leaving her. She's indoor much loved cat. Her sister another cat called Winnie is missing her too. Worried how I will handle this situation just want what is best for her. She's prone to struvite crystals so eats RC urinary food and any fluctuation of this causes the crystals so diet will be tricky to manage.

 

Welcome to the best place you never thought you would be.

Please come over to the Health Forum and post where more eyes will see you. We can help with all aspects of feline diabetes, including diet help to manage both diabetes and crystals. I notice the "BG was 40" which indicates you are in a country outside than the US. If you could tell us which country, we can help with food and supplies questions. There are members here from all over (waving to you from Canada).

In the meantime, you can start reading this FAQS page.

 

Welcome to FDMB.

I think we're all a wreck if our cat is at the vet's for an overnight stay. I suspect your vet is using a relatively short acting insulin to get the numbers back down. Hopefully, the vet will suggest either Lantus, Prozinc or Levemir for your kitty.

I'm guessing you are not in the US. A 40 on our meters would be a very low reading. On a non-US calibrated meter, it's a rather high reading. (It took me a minute to figure that out!!)

One consideration regarding food and crystals, is the RC a dry food? If it's the canned food, it's low in carbohydrates (approx. 6%) so would be appropriate for your cat. Lisa Pierson, DVM has an excellent website on feline nutrition. On her website, she has a section on urinary track issues. You might want to look this over.

 

Brilliant advice thank you very much for that. She gets dry RC S/O during the day and a wet pouch of it at night. Il maybe switch over to the wet for both feeds. I used to leave her dry food out for her to graze on but she was never a big eater. She's around 4.9kg so not obese either. I will look at that website for crystals. Yes I'm in the UK. Should I ask for long acting insulin or will they automatically give me that home with me? They said I would have her at the vet quite a few times the next couple of weeks until she is stable then it will be every couple of months after that.

 

Chances are your vet may have to prescribe Caninsulin (Vetsulin in the US). It is truly not an appropriate insulin for cats -- as the name implies, it was developed for dogs. If you can convince your vet, Lantus (glargine) or Prozinc would be a better choice. I've not seen Prozinc prescribed that much outside of the US. I also don't know if the regulations on prescribing Caninsulin first have changed. At one point, it was required that the cat had to fail on Caninsulin before the vet could prescribe insulin.

There are guidelines for the treatment of diabetes in cats and dogs published by the American Animal Hospital Assn. They recommend Lantus or Prozinc. These insulins will give your cat the best chance for remission. Caninsulin is harsh and doesn't have the duration of these types of insulin.

 

Thank you so much.

 

I am out working from 7am until 5.30pm so I know this will be tricky to manage. I just want what is best for Honey. She's such a great wee cat no bother at all and I miss her so much. Really hope I can get her back home today. She will be scared. She's indoor cat and much loved x

 

Welcome to FDMB.

I think the regulations in the UK are such now that the vet can prescribe ProZinc as the initial treatment however a lot of vets haven't used it much and therefore often stick with what they know which is Vetsulin. If your vet says Vetsulin, I'd tell him you'd prefer to have ProZinc. Worth a try and shows you are an informed pet parent.

 

Thank you I will definitely mention this I'm going up in about an hour's time to get my Honey and speak to the vet about her treatment so I will mention Prozinc is better for longer duration. I'm away at work from 7am to 530pm so ideally this sounds like the best option. As it's early days I'm not sure vet will agree but il certainly try. I've order her some royal canin s/O index diabetic food while we get into the swing of things. It is low carb so I'm hoping it will be an improvement from her dry urinary food she used to have. Will concentrate on wet foods and have been reading a lot and rang Royal canin for advice and emailed some organic grain free food suppliers in the UK. Hopefully they will get back to me soon. Such a learning curve but will do anything to get her back to health. Thank you for all the advice guys x

 

Hi there yes I'm in the UK. Any advice on UK stockists for food or needles etc gratefully received. Thank you

 

HERE is a link to some info about supplies and food in the UK that should help.

 

Hi from another UKer! There are several of us here who can help you with specifics, and everyone in other parts of the world will give you very sound advice.
You've had some great comments already and I'm glad to see that the UK supplies and foods list has been linked for you.
We all know how incredibly stressful it is when our kitties are at the vets, so we understand exactly where you're coming from. Let us know what's what when you pick up Honey from the vet!

 

Hi there I got Honey back from vet and was told how to give her insulin and she has to go back next Tuesday for another blood glucose test. I fed her a pouch of her food and then gave her the injection. She still seems hungry to me. When I was feeding her sister a minute ago she was looking another feed but that was maybe because I used to feed them together. Whereas I fed Honey when she got home from the vet at 5pm (it's not 7.51pm). Feel bad not having food left out for her to eat as and when she chooses. Il probably struggle with this but know its for her own good. I am going to look at blood glucose meters tonight but the 2 recommended I can't seem to find so far. Will keep looking. Thanks for the support guys. Honey seems quite tired. It could be from being stressed in the vets for 2 days. Just so worried about her going hypo. This is so new to me. I have to go back to work tomorrow unfortunately but do have a cat camera set up so will keep checking on her. My cats tend to sleep a lot when we are out.

 

Forgot to say vet gave me caninsulin. I did ask for Prozinc but the vet said the caninsulin seemed like a safer option for now.

 

She seems a bit off sorts still. She never was a huggy cat but sits on my knee on a cosy blanket. She just seems quite quiet. Been through a lot I suppose. I've ordered a sd codefree BG monitor so it will be here on Friday.

 

What dose did the vet prescribe?

Not sure why the vet would suggest Vetsulin was any safer than ProZinc. With proper dosing, they are both safe choices. ProZinc is a bit gentler so why the vet would suggest it wasn't as safe or even a tad safer is beyond me.

There is no reason whatsoever that you cannot allow Honey and her sister to free feed. The only concern might be that Honey might start pilfering her sister's food if she gets hungry but otherwise, multiple meals are preferable to twice daily feeding. The vets seem to think our kitties will eat a full large can of food in 15 minutes without doing the scarf and barf thing and that just isn't feasible with most cats. The only time you need to withhold food is for 2 hours prior to doing your pre-shot BG test because you want that test to be fasting with no food influence. Leaving food out for your kitties overnight and while you are at work is also a way to allow for Honey to help herself to some food if she feels her BG dropping.

Diabetics cannot process the food they eat properly so they are always ravenous and need more food than their previous normal. Don't be afraid to feed Honey a little more than she usually gets particularly if she has been losing weight.

 

I noticed she has lost weight in the vets the past 2 days. So I should free feed? This is so confusing. Vet said not to. She's on one unit of caninsulin twice daily. And wants to retest next Tuesday 6 hrs after her jab. Thank you. Feeling very overwhelmed and worried I'm not doing the right thing.

 

Also forgot to say she can't get at her sisters food because Winnie her sister has a microchip feeder that only opens for her. She has meds and food Honey can't get at or she gets her struvite crystals back. So we have had the microchip feeder a good while

 

The vet started at a reasonable dose which is great. And being able to keep Honey from pilfering is also great. Can/will Winnie pilfer Honey's food?

You can leave food out for Honey except for the 2 hours prior to pre-shot BG testing. Honey probably didn't like being at the vet and didn't eat well while there. If she lost any weight, she'll gain it back. She's had a hard couple of days and sometimes the first little while on insulin can make them feel punky so just keep an eye on her for any loss of appetite or unusual behaviour. She may be a bit lethargic and sleep a lot but if she stops wanting your attention at all, then something is up.

The excess drinking like the ravenous appetite will dissipate as Honey gets into better BG range.

Interesting that the vet wants to do a quick BG test at +6 hours post shot on Tuesday. Given some cats reach their lowest point in the cycle before 6 hours with Vetsulin, that test may or may not be pertinent although any tests done in the vets office are usually off to some degree just because kitties usually get stressed out by vet visits of any kind and that causes elevated BG. Hopefully by then you will have been able to get some home testing done and I would definitely take your home readings to that appointment to show the vet.

 

She's still a little bit out of sorts. Quite tired and a bit grumpy. Will get up extra early tomorrow to spend some time with her. She's not drinking a lot or peeing as much which is good I think. Vet was very good with her and didn't charge me much even though she was in for 2 days. My vets is a country vet in the middle of no where with a great reputation. I gave her a few biscuits before bed to keep her going. She seemed so happy to be home earlier but seems to want peace later on this evening. Thank you for the advice it's great to have support on here